Grille guard



Dec. 21, 1937. A. v` wEAsLER Er Al.

GRILLE GUARD 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 24, 1957 Dec. 21, '1937.`

A A. V. WEASLER EVAL GRILLE GUARD Filed March 24, 1937 2 lSheets-Sheet 2Patented Dec. 21, 1937 UNITED STATES 2,102,815 I GRILLE GUARD Anthony V.Weasler and Andrew C. Meyer, West Bend, Wis., assignors' to PickManufacturing Company, West Bend, Wis., a corporation oi WisconsinApplication March 24,

,2 Claims.

This invention relates to a guard attachable to either bumper of anautomobile to aiord protection to parts thereof which are located abovethe bumper level. Such a guard when mounted upon the front/bumper willprotect the grille which is customarily provided to the front of theautomobile radiator, and when mounted upon the rear bumper willprotectthe trunk or other fixtures upon the rear end of thev automobile bodyjust above the bumper level. It `frequently happens that damage resultsfrom a relatively light impact which might have been absorbed by aprotecting guard such as is disclosed herein.

The features of improvement which characterize the present guard residein a pivotal mounting therefor by which the guard may be swung down, toa horizontal position if desired, so as to permit outward swingingmovement of the protected grille or trunk door, as the case may be. Atthe present time it is common practice to mount the motor hood forswinging movement about a horizontal axis at a point adjacent the cowl;in consequence, the lower portion of the grille which lies to the frontof the motor must advance forwardly and upwardly while executing thismovement. Inasmuch as there may not be suiiicient clearance betweenl thegrille and a guard which is mounted just forwardly thereof, f we havesought by the improvements herein disclosed to provide a swingingmounting for the guard such as to permit the hood in its entirety to beswung to an upper position wheneveraccess to the motor is'desired. Thesame condition, requiring a down-swinging of the proximate guard, occurswhen the trunk door at the rear of the automobile body is to be opened.

It is imperative that the guard mounting on the bumper shall under allconditions be sufciently strong and rigid to furnish a substantial ,Ydegree of protection. It is further important, in

-the most part concealed from the view, and are fully effective fortheir intended purposes.

In the accompanying drawings certain suggestive embodiments of ourinvention are set v, forth in the manner following: Figure 1 is aperspective 'view looking toward 1937, Serial N0. 132,794

the rear end of an automobile body having ay built-in trunk,` thebumperwhich lies just below and to the rear of the trunk door beingequipped with the swinging guard of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in longitudinal section, taken on line 2 2 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view'in transverse section taken on line 3-3 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the inner face of the guardand adjacent portion of the base plate upon which it is mounted;

Fig. 5 which is a view similar to Fig. 3 shows a modification in thepivotalmounting for the guard;

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective showing a grille guard of modifiedconstruction;

Fig. j? is an enlarged transverse sectionrtaken on 1ine-`11 of Fig. 6; v

Fig. 8 is a detail in vertical section taken on line 8--8.of Fig. 6; y

Fig. 9 which is a view similar to Fig. 6 shows a further modifiedconstruction of grille guard; f Fig. 10 is an enlarged transversesection taken on linerIli-Ill of Fig. 9; f

Fig. 11 is -a detail in vertical section taken on line II-II of Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 which is a view similar to Figs. 6` and 9 shows a still furthermodified construction of grille guard; A

Fig. 13 is a transverse', section therethrough on an enlarged ,scaletaken on line I3I3 of Fig. `12; Iand Fig. 14 is a detail i'n verticalsection takenon line I d-M oi' Fig. 12.

To illustrate a practical application oi the present grille guard wehave shown in Fig. 1 the rear end vof an automobile body having abuilt-in trunk T with a rear door D hinged at 20 along the top. A handle2| near the lower edge of the door is provided for releasing its catch(not shown) and for raising the door when access to the trunk vinterioris desired.- Rear- 'wardly of the automobile body, at a point just belowthe lower edge of the trunk door, is the usual bumper B in the form 'ofa bar which is .connected to supporting brackets 22 near its oppositeends. 'Ihis bar may have a convex rearward face, together with a concaveinner face, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, or be otherwise contoured.

II-l1e present guard is designed for attachment to such a bumper,preferably at a point midway of its length. As shown, the guardcomprises a base plate P which isvertically contoured to fit over andupon the outer face of the bumper, be-

the upper and lower edges thereof. In its lower region the base plate isformed with an opening 25, preferably square, to receive thecorrespondingly shaped shank of a carriage bolt 26 whose head 21 may lieupon the outer face of the base plate. Near the upper end of the baseplate we have struck out from opposite edges thereof a pair of lugs 30which extend laterally in the form of shoulders adapted to overlie theupper edge of the bumper bar B (see Fig. 2). At a point slightly abovethesel shoulders the base plate is formed with a second opening 3|,preferably square, to receive the correspondingly shaped shank 32 of acarriage bolt whose head 33 may lie upon the outer face of the baseplate, as shown. By reason of the two shoulders thus provided the baseplate is adapted to occupy a fixed position upon the bumper bar to whichit may be secured with the aid of a cleat C in the form of a platehaving a slight transverse bend 35 and openings 36 and 31, slottedlengthwise if desired, near its opposite ends for the reception of thebolt Shanks 26 and 32.- This cleat which lies adjacent the face of thebumper bar which is remote from that against which the base plate isfitted, is adapted to be clamped thereupon as by means of nuts 38 whichare applied to the threaded ends of the two bolts. 'I'hese nuts may betightened to bear with pressure against spring washers 39 which exert athrust against the cleat, thereby causing the base plate to be clampedfirmly against the outer face of the bumper bar.

The base plate furnishes a mounting for a guard G which is swinginglyconnected thereto. As shown, the guard is in the form of an elongatedplate which is flat, or substantially so, at its lower end where itoverlaps the upper end of the base plate over whose outer face it isfitted. 'I'hrough a pair of registering threaded openings in the baseplate and lower iiat'portion of the guard is fitted a stud bolt l0 (seeFig. 2) whose head bears against the end of a cup washer di within whichis confined a compression spring @l2 exerting opposite thrusts againstthe washer and the guard. Surrounding the stud and tted between the baseplate and the guard is a leaf i3 of fiber or the like whose presence maybe wholly concealed. This leaf prevents direct friedenal contact betweenthe guard and the plate so that when relative rotary movements takeplace there will be no abrading or marring of the exterior face of thebase plate which is desirably chrome-plated for decorative purposes.

Beyond the flat lower end of the guard, i. e. thc area surrounding itspivotal connection with the base plate, the guaiis preferably ridged forlongitudinal reinforcement, the ridge in the construetion shown beingproduced by an angled formation of the'guard. This feature contributesto the beauty of the guard which in practice may be chromium plated withdiiering reflections on opposite sides of the ridge. 1n contour theguard is tapered gradually from its lower end to the top where it isrounded ofi: in a symmetrical fashion.

By .reason of the rigid or arched cross section of the guard, there isprovided upon its inner face a shallow recess into which is fitted anoiset head d5 which is formed along the top edge of the base plate. Thishead is provided with opposed ends Q6 each adapted to enter a notch dithat is formed on the inner face of the guard to engage with a verticalend wall i8 therein whereby to prevent swinging movement of the guard.The head remains engaged with these notches until the guard is pulledforwardly upon its pivotal Vmounting a,

distance suflicient to allow the head to clear when the guard is turned.During any such manipulations the spring l2 is required to undergofurther compression in order that there may be disengagement of the headfrom the notches. Upon return of the guard to its vertical position, thehead and notches will again interengage auto-l matically in response tothe thrust forcesexcrted by the spring.

In the construction just described the pivotal connection between theguard and the base plate includes a compression spring and lconfiningcup washer therefor which is located on the outer face of the guard. Itis possible to reverse the arrangement, as suggested in Fig. 5, where weshow a bolt 5D having a cone head 5I which is countersunk on the outerface of the guard, the compression spring 42 and enclosing washertherefor lll being disposed at the-opposite end of the bolt adjacent thenut 52 which lies to .the inside of the base plate in the spaceimmediately over the bumper bar. It will be noted further that the-cleat C shown in this gure is reversed so that been described. In thiscase, however, the pivotal mounting fory the guard comprises a stud boltwhose head .6i bears against the base plate.

Upon the outer end ofv the bolt which is projected forwardly of theguard is fitted a cap nut 62 bearing against a cup washer B3 wherein isconiined under compression the spring 64 which exerts thrust against theguard to hold it tightly against the base plate. A lock by which theguard is normally maintained in its upright position is provided by apair yof lugs 65 struck, if desired, from the base plate at a pointadjacent its top edgeand projected forwardly a slight distance so as toengage opposite edges of the guard when the latter is in uprightposition. To swing the guard it is necessary first that it be pulledforwardly a distance sufficient to clear these lugs. whereupon it willbe free for rotary adjustment.

Referring now to Figs. 9, 10 and 11, the guard mounting is substantiallythe same as already described. At 'a point above its pivotal connectionwith the base plate, near the upper edge of the latter a stud l@ isaflixed to the guard, being extended rearwardly therefrom a distancesufficient toenter a hole il which is formed in the base plate. Theguard is prevented from swinging until the stud is disengaged from thehole, this being accomplished by a forward pull upon the guardsuilicient to withdraw the stud.

Referring now to Figs. 12, i3 and 14.-, the guard which is pivotallyconnected to the base plate in substantially the same manner as alreadydescribed is normally locked in an upright position by engagementtherewith of the base plate whose upper end is ridged as at l5 inconformity with the cross sectional contour of the guard itself. Asshown in Fig. i3, the ridge of one will tend to nest into the recess ofthe other under the influence of the compression spring. This relationship, however, may be broken by a forward pull upon the guard platesuiiicient to produce a. separation whereupon the guard plate may beswung upon its mounting.

The several constructions just described are' all alike in that theyeach comprise a base plate to which is plvotally connected the lower endof a guard which is adapted normally to be sustained in a verticalposition with the aid of a spring in cooperation with positive lockingelements. By

slightly separating the guard from its base plate in responseto a forcewhich will further compress the spring, the locking elements. will beineffective to prevent swinging movement of the guard. When the need fordown movement of the guard has'passed, it may be returned by hand to itsnormal upright position where it is again automatically locked in place.The guard is normally sustained in its vertical operating position bythe locking means already described, the bolt and spring beingsufficiently heavy to resist an impact of substantial force should theguard be required to furnish protection to the adjacent automobileparts.

We claim:

l. A bumper guard comprising a base plate attachable to a bumper bar, aguard plate, and means providing a connection between the guard and baseplates at two vertically spaced points,

one of said connecting means comprising frictionally engaged opposedinteri'lttingI portions of said guard and base plates and the other aresilient pivotal mounting for the guard plate which yieldably retainssaid opposed interfitting portions in interlocked relationship, wherebysaid guard may be swung relative to said base plate by rst moving saidguard on its resilient mounting away from the base plate to disengagesaid opposed portions.

2. A bumper guard comprising a base plate adapted to be attached to abumper bar, said base plate having a head portion, a guard plate havingan axially movable pivotalv mounting upon the base plate and stop meansarranged to engage With the head of the base plate, and tension meansholding the head of the guard and the stop l means of the base platein-intertting relationship for normally preventing swinging movement ofthe guard plate about its pivotal mounting.

ANTHONY V. WEASLER. ANDREW C. MEYER.

